Crocodile lakes (II), unflattering portraits, pink polka dots

I eventually peeled myself away from the Goan beach, leaving half my singed skin on the sunbeds. Turns out my doxy anti-malaria medication makes me uber sun sensitive! Oops.

I took my first sleeper bus to the Hippy capital of Hampi. The bus was blooming awful; I felt every bump, lump, swerve and near misses all the way and in India that means being woken up every 5 minutes. Add to that the stress worrying if the other half of my miniature “double sleeper" was going to be filled by a strange molesting male. Luckily no neighbour ever appeared, and I drew into Hampi at 5am being chased down by a stream of rickshaws.

Sleeper bunk supposively for two.

Whilst waiting for our 7am ferry across the Tungabhadra river, I met a welsh girl, Emily, who became my travel buddy for the duration of my stay in Hampi.

Local life on the banks of the river

Hampi couldn’t be further from what I associate with India. Its full of backpackers and roaming lost souls, smoking weed, wearing baggy trousers and supporting an impressive head of dreadlocks. Still, it was an extremely interesting place. The countryside is littered with huge rounded boulders, providing the ultimate playground for the hundreds of climbers who filled the equally large number of hostels. Hampi’s accommodation wins the ward for the cheapest accommodation. At only Rs. 100 (£1) I got a space in a communal lounge. If you were able to get over the cold showers and the numerous dogs who decided to wake us up by licking our faces, it was arguably acceptable.

Elephant bath time in the river

I stayed here for only 4 days, during which Emily and I and some other newly adopted friends from America and Canada went swimming in a waterfall and a crocodile infested lake. We rode temperamental bicycles around the temples and boulders, washed an elephant, learnt how to cook more Indian delights in an Indian’s home, watched some beautiful sunsets and rises sat amongst lots of monkeys. Although a relaxed town, it wasn’t exactly somewhere I was keen to stay for longer than I did.

One of our swimming spots with Emily and other friends.

I was starting to miss the school and pupils too much. And so from Hampi I began my journey back to my beloved Kolkata, stopping off at the uneventful Hyderbad for 36 hours.

After a 26 hour train journey (my longest of the little adventure) and a unwanted portrait drawn by a random on my train, pulling into Howrah station felt like I was coming home!

The unflattering portrait of me (apparently) by Depak. I'm pretty sure I haven't doubled in size since leaving the UK...

The first week back in Kolkata included everything I love and missed about this place. School was full on: maths, maths and more maths tutoring. Lots of sport with the students, including teaching netball to the girls and learning zumba from a very camp Indian man. Friday night provided my first taste of a "night out" in India. "Roxy" club matched Cindies (Cambridge) for humidity and sweat content, but the Hindi dance music made for some great dance moves. Having done Zumba earlier that day we found ourselves cracking out some over energetic steps; high knees and lots of elbow pumps kept the leering men at bay!

Saturday we headed to a local tourist attraction: Aquatica - a water park complete with sprinkler disco, wave machine and dance music waterfall. Accompanied by three of the older Future Hope boys, all the hungover volunteers headed off unsure of what to expect. It took long enough for us to get in, failing to sneak food in and arguing with officials about the appropriateness of our clothes. We lost the argument, badly, coming away in stunningly awful pink polka dot synthetic shorts and t'shirts. I've never been a pink kind of gal and the unwashed outfit did nothing to change that. Though it added to the comedy value of the day. Saturday evening and Sunday were surprisingly wet, my first rain of Kolkata. Alice and I were stuffed full: firstly at a family's home on Saturday during which we were treated to chicken hearts, chicken liver, fish and other local treats. 

Got to love the pink polka dot skin tight pyjamas!

Sunday I headed out to a suburb with one of the older students, Ranjit, with whom I went trekking . His mum, an incredible cook, was a wonderful host and topped up my already full stomach. Her neighbours also wanted in on the foreigner-entertaining and I almost found myself taking a tour of everyone's home; protective Ranjit made sure I didn't become the local attraction. Its great to be back. I only wish I could stretch the next 2 weeks into 2 more years.

In my next installment you'll I'll have attended a talk by Rev. Jesse Jackson, sat front row at Bengal's fashion show finale, made 200+ chapatis for the Ballygunge Boys, walked the runway at Kolkata's fashion week and probably stopped off in Varanasi. Just your average school week in Kolkata.